There’s a good chance our lives never will go back to the way they were before. We’re suffering through a pandemic that has left some people in total isolation, it has robbed us of live performances from bands, having lunch with friends, and celebrating holidays and major occassions with family and acquaintances. It’s impossible to even grasp how things were last year at this time.
Looking back at our civilization and the changes we have had to endure make up a large part of “Dialetheia,” the collaborative effort combining black metal/doom mauler Mizmor and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Black (he’s a live member of Mizmor), a record that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s because A.L.N. and Black could not create this music in the same room together and instead had to work with file sharing and building on the sounds that way. The two artists imagined what it would be like to look back on our old ways and traditions and act as observers on those actions, and the music in immersive and hypnotic, the type of thing that could make you drift off and experiencing the old world yourself, taking note of what you’ve lost and what has been altered. Album artwork, by the way, was created by the amazing Emma Ruth Rundle.
“Looking At | Looking Through” opens the record, running 16:12 and basking in accumulating noise and eerie keys. The ambiance expands its reach as guitars emerge, poking through the clouds, while cosmic keys woosh through, and light zapping opens as a calming aura rushes. Keys drip as echoes search, the air feels damp, and the track dissolves into a haze of white noise. “Nostalgic Dystopian” closes the record, a 14:31-long track that has a different feel with guitars buzzing and ominous tones filling your blood. Moody doom surfaces as the guitars call out, and ghostly voices gather and send strange vibes. Things slow down as the track is buried in sound, settling into a drizzle of nighttime keys that fade out into the blackened sky.
This is an interesting piece from Mizmor and Black, a true collaborative experiment that really needs to be visited numerous times before the ideas begin to germinate. “Dialetheia” may not be heavy sonically, but the themes and the weighty emotion certainly push you to pay the price as you navigate each murky channel of this creation. This is perfect for listening in the evening, perhaps in a hot bad with a soothing substance as you reach out to the universe and try to align with the energy coming back at you.
For more on the Mizmor, go here: https://www.facebook.com/whollydoomedblackmetal/
For more on Andrew Black, go here: https://andrewrblack.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/collections/gilead-media-releases
For more on the label, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/
Meat Mead Metal 